(Un tribunal sud-africain saisi par une ONG a - Burundi

(Un tribunal sud-africain saisi par une ONG a interdit au président soudanais Omar el-Béchir de
quitter le pays tant que la justice n'aura pas statué sur une demande d'arrestation formulée par la
CPI, indique un jugement publié dimanche.)
BURUNDI :
Burundi: l'Union africaine redonne un peu d'espoir à l'opposition
Par RFI /15-06-2015
Les résolutions du conseil de paix et de sécurité de l'Union africaine sur le Burundi ont finalement
été publiées dimanche. Cette réunion de chefs d'Etat s'est tenue dans la soirée samedi. Si du côté du
gouvernement burundais, on préfère mettre l'accent sur la visite ministérielle de la communauté estafricaine, plusieurs opposants voient au contraire dans les décisions prises par le CPS une raison
d'espérer, même si la question du troisième mandat a à nouveau été éludée.
L'essentiel se trouve dans le point numéro 10 du communiqué du conseil de paix et de sécurité. Six
décisions qui donnent une quasi-feuille de route. Et la première, c'est la reprise du dialogue, au plus
tard dans un délai d'une semaine suivant l'adoption du communiqué du conseil de paix et de
sécurité, samedi prochain donc.
Et ce avec une facilitation à plusieurs mains impliquant tous les pays et organisations partenaires du
Burundi. L'équipe sera mise sur pied après une série de consultations menées par la présidence de la
commission de l'UA, sous les auspices du Tanzanien Jakaya Kikwete, président en exercice de la
communauté est-africaine. L'objectif de ce dialogue : créer des conditions favorables à des élections
crédibles, mais aussi régler toutes les questions faisant l'objet de divergences entre les parties.
Troisième décision qui concerne les élections : pas de référence au calendrier annoncé par le
gouvernement, la date des élections doit être fixée par consensus entre les parties et dans l'esprit du
report déjà demandé par la communauté est-africaine.
Le conseil de paix et de sécurité annonce également l'envoi de trois types de missions. L’une
composée d'observateurs des droits de l'homme, la deuxième visant à surveiller le processus de
désarmement des milices, à savoir des experts et des militaires. Et la troisième ne se rendra au
Burundi que si les conditions sont réunies pour des élections crédibles : il s'agit d'une mission
d'observation électorale censée permettre à l'Union africaine de décider ou non de reconnaître les
résultats sortis des urnes.
Et pour s'assurer de la mise en œuvre de ces décisions, une délégation ministérielle avec la
participation de la commission devrait se rendre la première semaine de juillet au Burundi.
Une délégation est-africaine à Bujumbura
En attendant, comme promis, une délégation de ministres des Affaires étrangères de la
Communauté des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Est est arrivée à Bujumbura pour une visite d’évaluation de
la mise en application des résolutions adoptées par le sommet de Dar es-Salaam fin mai. Deux
ministres des Affaires étrangères, celui de Tanzanie et celui d'Ouganda, étaient déjà arrivés à
Bujumbura dimanche soir, selon des sources diplomatiques. Mais personne n'était en mesure de dire
si leurs collègues rwandaise et kenyane, qui se trouvaient toujours en Afrique du Sud, allaient les
rejoindre plus tard, d'autant que le ministère burundais des Relations extérieures refusait de
communiquer la moindre information sur cette visite.
A l'agenda de la délégation de la Communauté des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Est, une rencontre avec le
président Pierre Nkurunziza bien sûr. Mais dès ce lundi matin, ils vont avoir un premier entretien
avec l'opposition politique burundaise, en pointe dans la contestation du troisième mandat de Pierre
Nkurunziza. Qu'attend-elle de cette visite ? « Que la délégation constate que le gouvernement a
refusé le dialogue prôné par le sommet de Dar es-Salaam, a ignoré dans tous ses aspects les
recommandations du sommet de Dar es-Salaam, et que les ministres reviennent et donnent un
rapport aux chefs d'Etats qui devraient se réunir en urgence pour cette fois-ci décider de mesures
contraignantes contre le président Nkurunziza, pour lui dire non à ce forcing électoral », explique
un des porte-parole de l’opposition, Jérémie Minani.
Alain Aimé Nyamitwe, le ministre burundais des Affaires étrangères se dit serein : « Je n’ai pas de
crainte parce que la communauté des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Est c’est notre communauté. Je ne
pourrais pas faire de spéculation sur ce qu’ils vont dire déjà, mais le plus important c’est que le
gouvernement reste ouvert à les écouter, à travailler avec eux. » Ne craint-il pas une demande de
nouveau report ? « Je n’ai pas cette crainte, affirme-t-il. Dans tous les cas, ce que je sais c’est que
quoi qu’il arrive, toute recommandation qui viendra de ces ministres devra être validée par le chef
de l’Etat. »
Les chefs d'Etats de la région devraient se retrouver une nouvelle fois au chevet du Burundi dans
deux semaines, soit après le 29 juin, la date fixée unilatéralement par le pouvoir burundais pour les
communales et les législatives. Mais avec les résolutions adoptées par le conseil de paix et de
sécurité de l'Union africaine, l'opposition vient en tout cas de retrouver du poil de la bête. Elle
espère que les pays de la région ne pourront pas faire fi de ces résolutions et attend beaucoup de la
visite qui démarre ce lundi.
Burundi: Adoption de la décision sur la situation au Burundi
(Alwihda Info) Rédigé par U.A/15 Juin 2015
Réitère sa profonde appréciation à la CAE et aux dirigeants de la région pour leur engagement et
efforts soutenus en vue de faciliter la recherche d’une solution politique durable à la grave crise que
connaît le Burundi.
CONSEIL DE PAIX ET DE SÉCURITÉ
515ÈME RÉUNION AU NIVEAU DES CHEFS D'ÉTAT ET DE GOUVERNEMENT
13 JUIN 2015
JOHANNESBURG, AFRIQUE DU SUD
PSC/PR/COMM.2(DXV)
COMMUNIQUÉ
Le Conseil de paix et de sécurité de l'Union africaine (UA), en sa 515ème réunion tenue le 13 juin
2015, au niveau des chefs d’État et de Gouvernement, a adopté la décision qui suit sur la situation
au Burundi:
Le Conseil,
1. Prend note du rapport de la Présidente de la Commission sur la situation au Burundi
[PSC/AHG/3(DXV)]. Le Conseil prend également note de la déclaration faite par le Ministre des
Relations extérieures et de la Coopération internationale de la République du Burundi, ainsi que des
interventions du Président Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete de la République unie de Tanzanie, en sa qualité
de Président en exercice de la Communauté de l’Afrique de l’Est (CAE), et du vice-Secrétaire
général des Nations unies;
2. Rappelle ses communiqués et communiqués de presse antérieurs sur la situation au
Burundi, y compris le communiqué PSC/PR/COMM(DVII), adopté lors de sa 507ème réunion
tenue le
14 mai 2015, ainsi que les communiqués et déclarations de la Présidente de la Commission. Le
Conseil réaffirme la détermination de l’UA à assumer pleinement les responsabilités découlant de
son rôle de Garant de l’Accord d’Arusha pour la paix et la réconciliation au Burundi d’août 2000,
conclu après des efforts soutenus de la région et de l’Afrique dans son ensemble, avec le soutien de
la communauté internationale;
3. Réitère sa profonde appréciation à la CAE et aux dirigeants de la région pour leur engagement et
efforts soutenus en vue de faciliter la recherche d’une solution politique durable à la grave crise que
connaît le Burundi. Le Conseil rend hommage à l’Envoyé spécial du Secrétaire général des Nations
unies pour la région des Grands Lacs, Said Djinnit, pour son engagement et les efforts remarquables
qu’il a déployés en vue du règlement de cette crise. Le Conseil se félicite de la contribution de la
Conférence internationale sur la région des Grands Lacs (CIRGL) et de la Communauté
économique des États de l’Afrique centrale (CEEAC), y compris les communiqués publiés à l’issue
de leurs Sommets tenus respectivement à Luanda, en Angola, et à N’Djamena, au Tchad, les 18 et
25 mai 2015;
4. Félicite à nouveau la Présidente de la Commission pour son engagement et sa détermination à
faciliter une solution politique à la crise au Burundi, ainsi que pour toutes les initiatives qu’elle a
prises dans ce cadre;
5. Exprime sa profonde préoccupation face à l’impasse persistante au Burundi, malgré les efforts
soutenus déployés par la CAE, la CIRGL, l’UA et les Nations unies, avec le soutien des partenaires
bilatéraux et multilatéraux. Le Conseil note avec déception que le dialogue politique initié par
l’Envoyé spécial des Nations unies pour la région des Grands Lacs, avec la participation de la CAE,
de la CIRGL et de l’UA, n’a pas abouti aux résultats escomptés. Le Conseil souligne que la présente
situation pourrait remettre en cause les acquis importants enregistrés à la suite de la signature de
l’Accord d’Arusha pour la paix et la réconciliation au Burundi et de l’Accord global de cessez-lefeu de 2003 et affecter la stabilité de la région;
6. Réaffirme la conviction de l’UA que seuls le dialogue et le consensus, dans le respect de
l’Accord d’Arusha et de la Constitution du Burundi, permettront de trouver une solution politique
durable, garantissant la préservation et la consolidation de la paix, ainsi que le renforcement de la
démocratie et de l’État de droit. Le Conseil appelle encore une fois l’ensemble des acteurs
burundais à faire preuve de retenue et à faire prévaloir l’intérêt national sur toute autre
considération;
7. Réitère sa préoccupation face à la situation difficile dans laquelle se trouvent les réfugiés
burundais ayant fui leur pays en direction des Etats voisins, remercie à nouveau les pays d’accueil
(République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda et Tanzanie), ainsi que les agences humanitaires,
pour leur soutien aux populations concernées, et en appelle à la communauté internationale pour
qu’elle apporte l’assistance humanitaire nécessaire. Le Conseil exhorte le Gouvernement du
Burundi à créer les conditions requises pour le retour rapide des réfugiés;
8. Souligne la nécessité impérieuse du respect des droits de l’homme et des libertés publiques
garanties par la Constitution burundaise. Le Conseil réitère la ferme condamnation par l’UA de tous
les actes de violence et atteintes aux droits humains;
9. Réitère son soutien aux efforts soutenus que déploie la CAE et souligne la pertinence des
mesures convenues par les Sommets tenus à Dar-es-Salaam, les 13 et 31 mai 2015, notamment
l’appel pour le report des élections et la cessation immédiate de la violence, le désarmement des
groupes de jeunes affiliés aux partis politiques, l’initiation d’un dialogue entre les acteurs
burundais, ainsi que l’engagement de la région à ne pas rester inactive en cas de détérioration de la
situation, mesures qui offrent un cadre pour une solution politique et consensuelle à la crise;
10. Décide, dans le prolongement de ses communiqués et communiqués de presse antérieurs et en
appui aux décisions de la CAE, des mesures ci-après pour accélérer la recherche d’une solution
politique consensuelle à la crise au Burundi:
(i) la reprise du dialogue entre toutes les parties burundaises, au plus tard dans un délai d’une
semaine suivant l’adoption du présent communiqué, sous la facilitation de l’UA, des Nations unies,
de la CAE et de la CIRGL, avec l’appui des membres concernés de la communauté internationale.
Le Conseil invite la Présidente de la Commission à initier immédiatement les consultations
nécessaires pour l’opérationnalisation de cette facilitation internationale, sous les auspices du
Président en exercice de la CAE;
(ii) le dialogue inter-burundais, prenant appui sur le travail déjà accompli avec la facilitation des
Nations unies, portera sur les mesures à prendre pour créer des conditions favorables à
l’organisation d’élections libres, régulières, transparentes et crédibles, ainsi que sur toutes les
questions faisant l’objet de divergences entre les parties;
(iii) la date des élections devra être fixée par consensus entre les parties burundaises, dans l’esprit
du communiqué de la CAE du 31 mai 2015 demandant un report des élections, et sur la base d’une
évaluation technique conduite par les Nations unies;
(iv) le déploiement immédiat des observateurs des droits de l’homme de l’UA et d’autres personnels
civils, tel que convenu dans le communiqué PSC/PR/COMM(DVII). Le Conseil réitère son appel
au Gouvernement burundais pour qu’il apporte son entière coopération à ce processus;
(v) le déploiement d’experts militaires de l’UA, provenant tant de la région que d’autres régions du
continent, pour vérifier, en collaboration avec le Gouvernement et les autres acteurs concernés, le
processus de désarmement des milices et autres groupes armés. Ce groupe d’experts, dont l’effectif
sera déterminé par la Présidente de la Commission, en consultation avec la région, soumettra des
rapports réguliers sur la mise en œuvre du processus de désarmement; et
(vi) le déploiement d’une mission d’observation électorale de l’UA, si les conditions de la tenue
d’élections libres, régulières, transparentes et crédibles, conformément à la Charte africaine de la
démocratie, des élections et de la gouvernance, sont réunies;
11. Attend avec intérêt la visite de la délégation ministérielle de la CAE au Burundi, en application
du communiqué du Sommet de Dar-es-Salaam du 31 mai 2015. Le Conseil décide de dépêcher, au
cours de la première semaine du mois de juillet 2015, une délégation ministérielle, avec la
participation de la Commission, pour faire le point de la mise en œuvre des décisions contenues au
paragraphe 10 ci-dessus et lui permettre de prendre les décisions qu’appellerait l’évolution de la
situation, y compris en déterminant la voie à suivre dans l’hypothèse où les parties ne
parviendraient pas à un accord dans un délai de deux semaines après le lancement du dialogue;
12. Réaffirme sa détermination à prendre, le cas échéant, et avec le soutien du Conseil de sécurité
des Nations unies, toutes les mesures nécessaires à l’encontre des acteurs burundais dont l’action
conduirait à la perpétuation de la violence et entraverait la recherche d’une solution politique;
13. Se félicite des mesures prises par la Présidente de la Commission pour renforcer le Bureau de
l’UA à Bujumbura, et ce en application des dispositions pertinentes du communiqué
PSC/PR/COMM(DVII). Le Conseil se félicite de la nomination du Professeur Ibrahima Fall comme
nouveau Représentant spécial de la Présidente de la Commission pour la région des Grands Lacs et
chef du Bureau de Liaison de l’UA à Bujumbura. Le Conseil l’assure de son plein soutien dans
l’accomplissement de son mandat;
14. Demande à la Présidente de la Commission de transmettre formellement le présent communiqué
au Gouvernement burundais et aux autres acteurs concernés. Le Conseil lui demande également de
transmettre ce communiqué à l’ensemble des organisations régionales concernées, au Secrétaire
général des Nations unies et, à travers lui, au Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies, ainsi qu’à
l’Union européenne (UE), pour mobiliser leur soutien. En particulier, le Conseil demande au
Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies d’entériner le présent communiqué;
15. Invite la Présidente de la Commission à tenir le Conseil régulièrement informé de l’évolution de
la situation pour lui permettre de prendre les mesures nécessaires;
16. Décide de rester activement saisi de la question.
RWANDA :
Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya: No more work permits necessary
eturbonews.com/15/06/2015
Good news came in over the weekend that Uganda has finally signed on to the lifting of work
permit requirements for citizens of Rwanda and Kenya, which had between them already gone
ahead in 2013 to abolish these requirements and implement the East African Community’s protocol
on the freedom of movement of labor. The deal was signed on occasion of the recent summit held in
Kampala of the three countries now best described as the "Coalition of the Willing" among the East
African Community’s five member states.
Increasingly over the past years have qualified staff from East Africa been recruited into managerial
positions and a number of professionals like accountants, lawyers and doctors too have benefitted
from the mutual recognition of qualifications, allowing them to practice their vocation in any of the
three states, subject to registration with the respective professional bodies.
The move is expected to help the three countries in recruiting competent skilled labour, which in the
past was often sourced from international markets, but the cost advantage in Uganda will be a major
one for employers who have to pay up to 2.500 US Dollars in annual work permit fees for citizens
from third countries.
In particular in the hotel industry have many Kenyans found job opportunities in Rwanda and
Uganda, largely as a result of better training opportunities in Kenya, where such institutions like the
Kenya Utalii College have produced management graduates since the mid 1970’s.
This is yet another tangible benefit for citizens of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects which
have benefitted through a range of measures, from common phone tariffs when calling into one of
the other two countries to passport free travel, from a widening of air transport choices to
recognition of professional qualifications and now work permit free employment.
Of the remaining two EAC countries has Tanzania steadfastly refused to be part of the fast-tracking
of such people friendly solutions and even stayed out of the rapid joint implementation of major
infrastructure projects. Meanwhile is Burundi in political and economic freefall with not even a
budget being read last week, a sign how political powergrabs can impact on the fate of an entire
nation, leaving the smallest EAC economy out in the cold and literally divorced from the rest of the
East African Community.
RDC CONGO :
UGANDA :
Child sacrifice for wealth and power in Uganda
Date: Jun 15, 2015/newvision
LUWEERO - Kanani and Sylvia, brother and sister aged nine and eight, were grazing the family
cattle in rural Uganda when they were approached by a man they vaguely knew.
Sperito Bisekwa was angry. He accused the children of allowing their cows to eat his fodder and
dragged them into a nearby forest. He attacked Kanani first. When the boy awoke he had a machete
wound on his neck and his sister lay dead beside him.
"He grabbed me, strangled me and cut the back of my neck. When I came to, I realised my sister
had been cut everywhere and she was dead," said Kanani.
Sylvia's young body had been gruesomely mutilated, her heart and clitoris cut out with a knife and
taken for use in a witchdoctor's ritual, according to police.
Child sacrifice is a disturbing and widespread phenomenon in Uganda, serious enough that the
government has established a special taskforce.
Activists say child sacrifice is not about tradition, but greed as people seek a quick route to wealth
or power and with elections due in 2016 they worry killings are set to increase.
Anti-Human Sacrifice Task Force
Child sacrifice is "expected to rise", said Moses Binoga, head of Uganda's Anti-Human Sacrifice
and Trafficking Task Force.
"Now we are going into elections, you will find that there are so many Ugandans, even high profile
people, going to witch doctors' shrines," said Binoga.
"Some of them will be so desperate that if they're told to win a seat as an MP 'You must sacrifice a
child', they'll do it."
Binoga said there have been five reported cases of child sacrifice so far this year and nine last year,
although those numbers are disputed with activists saying the actual figures are higher.
A sharp rise in reported cases of child sacrifice in 2009 spurred the setting up of Kyampisi
Childcare Ministries (KCM), a charity that works with survivors and victims' families.
Child protection officer Shelin Kasozi said the charity receives a few cases every month, stressing
that the ritual murders "cut across all Ugandan society".
"The rich believe, 'If I sacrifice then my business will prosper'," she said. "The poor believe if they
sacrifice a child they'll get rich."
Genitals hacked off
Kasozi pointed to the case of "very, very rich" Kampala businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi who
received a life sentence in 2012 for the ritual murder of a 12-year old boy who was beheaded and
his genitals cut off.
Cases of children disappearing as they walk between school and home, or while fetching water from
communal wells, can be found across Uganda. Sometimes their dismembered body parts are later
discovered in forests or building sites.
Kidnappings and ritual murders are commonly organised by witch doctors whose clients pay for the
killings in the belief that sacrificing a child will lead to wealth and prosperity, cure impotence or
boost fertility.
Binoga said it was rare for the financiers to be prosecuted as witch doctors refused to name their
clients.
Bisekwa pleaded guilty to the February 2013 attack in Nansaka village, 130 kilometres (80 miles)
northwest of the capital Kampala. He is serving a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of
Kanani and awaits sentencing for Sylvia's murder.
He admits sending the body parts to his brother, a witch doctor, in exchange for the promise of
$16,500 (14,600 euros).
The children's distraught father, Joseph Nankunda, wants his daughter's murderer to be given a
death sentence.
"I want the death penalty for him, so he can be an example for the others," said the 48-year-old
cattle farmer and father of six.
"My heart beats faster every time my children take a long time coming back. I live in fear every
day," said Nankunda.
In February Uganda's government drafted a National Action Plan to stem the killings and has
approved a bill regulating traditional healers, some of whom practice as witch doctors.
One reformed witch doctor is trying to convert others and persuade them to destroy their shrines.
But Binoga warned child sacrifice may not be easy to stamp out.
"It is based on the mindsets of beneficiaries of the crime," said Binoga. "As long as we have people
who have such a belief, that practice will continue."
SOUTH AFRICA :
La justice sud-africaine interdit provisoirement à el-Bechir de quitter le pays
AFP / 14 juin 2015
Johannesburg - Un tribunal sud-africain saisi par une ONG a interdit au président soudanais Omar
el-Béchir de quitter le pays tant que la justice n'aura pas statué sur une demande d'arrestation
formulée par la CPI, indique un jugement publié dimanche.
Le jugement stipule que les autorités sud-africaines doivent empêcher le président Omar el-Béchir
de quitter le pays jusqu'à ce qu'une décision soit rendue par cette Cour.
L'affaire devait être examinée en urgence dimanche après-midi.
Omar el-Béchir est en Afrique du Sud pour participer à un sommet de l'Union africaine, mais la
Cour pénale internationale (CPI) a appelé Pretoria à l'arrêter, dans le cadre des poursuites engagées
contre lui en 2009 pour crimes de guerre et crimes contre l'humanité et en 2010 pour génocide.
Les deux mandats d'arrêt sont liés aux événements au Darfour, région de l'ouest en proie aux
violences depuis 2003. Plus de 300.000 personnes sont mortes dans ce conflit selon l'ONU.
Dans une décision rendue publique dimanche, la CPI indique avoir rappelé le 28 mai à l'Afrique du
Sud son obligation statutaire, en tant qu'Etat membre de la Cour, d'arrêter et de lui remettre elBéchir si celui-ci se rendait sur son territoire.
Selon le document, l'ambassadeur d'Afrique du Sud aux Pays-Bas a rétorqué vendredi à la CPI, qui
siège à La Haye, que son pays se trouvait face à des obligations concurrentes et que la loi manquait
de clarté.
Mais la CPI ne l'entend pas de cette oreille : Il n'existe aucune ambiguïté ou incertitude quant à
l'obligation incombant à la République d'Afrique du Sud d'arrêter et de remettre immédiatement
Omar el-Béchir à la Cour, a-t-elle soutenu dans sa décision.
C'est sur cette base que l'organisation de défense du droit Southern Africa Litigation Center a saisi
la justice en urgence pour tenter d'obtenir une décision sur le sort du chef d'Etat soudanais.
Why a great deal hangs on Al-Bashir’s fate in South Africa
2015-06-15/news24.com
Johannesburg - Nobody anticipated that the June 2015 African Union (AU) summit in Sandton
would be gripped by the drama of threats to arrest Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, The
Conversation reported on Sunday.
In 2008, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted al-Bashir for war crimes committed in the
conflict in Darfur. The war led to the death of an estimated 300 000 people and the displacement of
2.5 million. A year later, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
As a signatory to the Rome Statute, under which the ICC was established, South Africa is obliged to
arrest al-Bashir and end his status as a fugitive from international law.
On previous occasions, South Africa has judiciously avoided this predicament by warning al-Bashir
not to set foot in the country. These threats worked well until last weekend, when the newly reelected and exuberant al-Bashir seemed confident enough to attend the AU summit.
Al-Bashir’s decision could also possibly have been influenced by assurances from the South
African government, which sought to grant immunity to all attendees of the summit.
On al-Bashir’s arrival in South Africa, the ICC asked the South African government to meet its
international obligations by executing the arrest. As Pretoria prevaricated, a human rights
organisation – the Southern African Litigation Centre – brought an application to the North Gauteng
High Court to compel the government to arrest al-Bashir.
The court ordered the South African government to prevent al-Bashir from leaving the country until
the application had been heard.
The ruling African National Congress issued a statement after the court order saying that the
government had “gazetted the meeting of the AU for immunity for all participants”. This, it said,
was part of the:
"…international norms for countries hosting such gathering of the AU or even the United Nations."
The case will nevertheless test the political and diplomatic mettle of President Jacob Zuma’s
administration.
More importantly, how it is resolved will have profound implications for South Africa’s relations
with its AU partners, the ICC, and its broader standing in the world.
The African Union and the ICC
How did we arrive at this? Apart from al-Bashir’s confidence over the last two years, a spirited antiICC movement has emerged within the AU. The AU claims that the court disproportionately targets
African leaders in its quest to end impunity.
As a result, the AU has passed several resolutions that, in effect, enjoin member states to ignore the
ICC. As I suggested recently, African countries may indeed have legitimate grievances against the
ICC. But the AU is not the best arena to contest these claims because not all its members are
signatories to the court.
Equally significant, South Africa and Nigeria need to take the lead in dissuading the AU from
taking decisions on the ICC for a very simple reason: they have value systems that underwrite
human dignity, justice and respect for international legality.
Countries such as al-Bashir’s Sudan have failed to join the ICC because they do not adhere to these
norms at home. It is inconsistent for countries with such divergent norms and values to be sitting in
the same room to debate the ICC. In any event, the ICC has redress mechanisms that permit
members to channel their problems.
The significance of South Africa’s role
If South Africa’s courts compel al-Bashir’s arrest they will vindicate the view that there is no
contradiction between the values that drove South Africa’s accession to the Rome Statute and those
that undergird its transition to a democracy more than two decades ago.
The courts may also be reaffirming that, at a minimum, Pretoria’s binding international obligations
on justice and accountability that are at the heart of the ICC are more salient than the temporal ones
of building alliances at the AU.
Granted, these alliances are necessary for South Africa to continue to lead on multiple peace,
security, and development issues facing Africa. But leadership bereft of core convictions and values
cannot stand on steady ground.
But the arrest could strengthen the voices of those at the AU who have called for African signatories
to walk out of the ICC.
This would be an excellent opportunity to test this threat. Ultimately, sovereign nations have the
power to decide on matters they think are important, including withdrawing from international
treaties. Yet it would be interesting to see how many African countries attempt to force their
legislatures to remove the Rome Statute from national laws after years of carefully domesticating
them.
Moments of crises such as this are instructive in underscoring how far African countries have gone
in enshrining the shared values of governance, accountability, justice and ending impunity.
The ICC’s future is at stake
If South African courts rule in favour of al-Bashir they will strengthen the government’s perspective
that the AU’s positions on the ICC are more important. This will be a victory for the anti-ICC forces
that have called for Africa’s withdrawal and will re-ignite the impetus for mass withdrawal.
Some ICC signatories that have increasingly doubted its legitimacy, such as Kenya and Uganda,
would undoubtedly marshal the political courage to lead even louder campaigns against the
institution.
South Africa faces greater domestic pressure against withdrawing from the ICC. This may force the
government to regroup with reassurances to domestic and international audiences that it is not going
to join African efforts to destroy an international institution that took years to construct.
South Africa court bars indicted Sudan leader from leaving
Monday, 15 June 2015/ Agency: Reuters
South African President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress (ANC) responded furiously
to Sunday's court order, accusing the Hague-based ICC of seeking to impose selective Western
justice by singling out Africans. "The ANC holds the view that the International Criminal Court is
no longer useful for the purposes for which it was intended," the ANC said in a statement
A South African judge barred Sudan's indicted president from leaving the country on Sunday, in a
deepening rift between Africa and the West over what Pretoria called anti-poor country bias in the
International Criminal Court (ICC).
President Omar al-Bashir, visiting South Africa for an African Union summit, stands accused in an
ICC arrest warrant of war crimes and crimes against humanity over atrocities committed in the
Darfur conflict. He was first indicted in 2009.
A judge is expected on Monday to hear an application calling for Bashir's arrest, though this appears
unlikely as South Africa's government has granted legal immunity to all African Union delegates.
South African President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress (ANC) responded furiously
to Sunday's court order, accusing the Hague-based ICC of seeking to impose selective Western
justice by singling out Africans. "The ANC holds the view that the International Criminal Court is
no longer useful for the purposes for which it was intended," the ANC said in a statement.
"Countries, mainly in Africa and Eastern Europe ... continue to unjustifiably bear the brunt of the
decisions of the ICC, with Sudan being the latest example."
A human rights group, the Southern African Litigation Centre, earlier petitioned the Pretoria High
Court to force the government to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir.
Judge Hans Fabricius postponed the hearing until 0930 GMT on Monday to allow the government
time to prepare its case, urging South African authorities to "take all necessary steps" to prevent
Bashir leaving the country.
Sudan's government said that Bashir had not slipped out of the country, despite some media reports
to the contrary. "President Bashir is here in Johannesburg," presidency spokesman Mohammed
Hatem told Reuters from the South African commercial capital.
Earlier, Khartoum defended the South African visit by Bashir, who was sworn in this month for
another five-year term, and said the court order had "no value". "We contacted South Africa in
advance and informed them that the president would participate and they highly welcomed his
participation," Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kamal Ismail, told reporters in Khartoum.
"What is being mentioned in the media is a propaganda campaign against Sudan," Ismail added.
Guarantees
The conflict in Darfur has killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced 2 million, the United
Nations says. "He (Bashir) would be a fool if he had not sought guarantees that he would not be
transferred before leaving for South Africa," one ICC official told Reuters, asking not to be named.
The ICC issued a statement asking Pretoria "to spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest
warrants".
It said the court's members had "deep concern" about the negative consequences if any signatory
state failed to assist in detaining Bashir.
A foreign ministry spokesman in South Africa, which is an ICC signatory and therefore obliged to
implement arrest warrants, did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
The ANC called for a review of ICC statutes to make them apply to all United Nations members to
ensure a "fair and independent court for universal and equitable justice".
The United States' decision not to sign the ICC's Rome Statute has caused resentment among
African states.
Mugabe: Nigeria, S’Africa ‘Betrayed’ Africa
15 Jun 2015/thisdaylive.com
Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, has lambasted South Africa and Nigeria at the African
Union summit at the weekend, saying Africa would never agree to them getting permanent seats on
the UN Security Council.
This was because they had both voted for UN Security Council Resolution 1973 in 2011, which
authorised military action against the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, reported the
African News Agency (ANA).
They had betrayed the continent, which could never trust them, sources reported him as saying.
Mugabe intervened in a meeting of the so-called “Committee of 10” at the summit on Saturday,
which discussed the possible amendments to the “Ezulwini Consensus” which stated Africa’s
position on reform of the UN Security Council.
The 2005 Ezulwini Consensus was that Africa should demand at least two permanent and five nonpermanent seats on the council as part of the protracted, wider reform to make it more
representative of the world.
The consensus also demanded that the two permanent seats should come with the same veto powers
as were enjoyed by the five current permanent members, the US, UK, China, Russia and France.
This demand for vetoes had effectively stymied Africa’s chances of reforming the council. And so
the South African government was calling for Africa to adopt a more flexible approach by dropping
the veto demand.
This was what the so-called G4 group of nations - Germany, Japan, India and Brazil - who were
also seeking permanent seats on the council had done, as a tactical manoeuvre to try to diminish
resistance to their bid.
Last year, South African President, Jacob Zuma, said: “Africa needs to compromise - not reiterate
fixed positions as it has done for the past nine years.”
And he organised a retreat of African Foreign Ministers in February 2014 to review the Ezulwini
Consensus.
South Africa also intended to raise it in the Committee of 10 meeting on Saturday.
The Committee of 10 was appointed by the AU many years ago to pursue the UN Security Council
reform.
But one regional official who was in the meeting said he believed that Mugabe’s attack on South
Africa and Nigeria had seriously damaged South Africa’s case for reviewing the Ezulwini
Consensus.
The official said Mugabe had not mentioned the two countries by name.
But it was clear to all in the room who he was referring to as he referred to African governments
who had been on the UN Security Council when Resolution 1973 on Libya was adopted in 2011.
South Africa and Nigeria were both on the council at the time, occupying two of the 10, nonpermanent, two-year seats. South Africa’s vote for Resolution 1973 was highly controversial even
within South Africa.
But the South African government justified it on the grounds that a foreign military intervention
was necessary to prevent Gaddafi’s forces slaughtering his opponents in their Benghazi stronghold,
as he threatened to do.
Pretoria later condemned the NATO-led military coalition for going beyond the mandate which was
to protect civilians, by helping rebels overthrow Gaddafi.
But South Africa suspects that countries like Zimbabwe are avoiding review of the Ezulwini
Consensus and insisting on a hardline, maximalist position on UN Security Council reform because
they don’t want bigger African countries like South Africa and Nigeria to get permanent seats on the
council.
TANZANIA :
KENYA :
Kenya hoping for Papal visit
Jun 14, 2015 /eturbonews.com
While Uganda has yesterday finally received confirmation from the Vatican that Pope Francis will
visit the country in November, Kenya tourism operators are also hoping for a second high-profile
visit, after US President Barack Obama, who is due in the country in July.
The speculation in Kenya was fueled by comments made by the Pontiff, which were quoted on
Vatican Radio that he was considering extending his visit from Uganda to Kenya. It is understood
that there remain both diplomatic and logistical issues to be resolved first. Considering that the Pope
was due to visit Uganda for the 50th anniversary last year of the elevation of the Uganda Martyrs to
sainthood, which could not be pulled off, however, to the disappointment of the hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims who congregated at the Namugongo Martyrs Shrine last year, it is presently
even chances that the visit to Kenya may or may not take place later this year.
Tourism operators were swift to welcome the potential visit by Pope Francis, pointing out that while
security would be tight, it would not bring the traffic and other nightmares for Nairobians associated
with the Obama visit, when road closures and movement restrictions are expected to affect ordinary
people without badges and not traveling in convoys.
Both visits, the same sources acknowledged, will bring the global spotlight back to Kenya in a
positive way, helping the ailing tourism industry to perhaps use the opportunity to showcase the
country from its Sunday best, especially when the two high-profile guests will visit a game park as
part of their program.
The visit is also seen by Kenya’s Catholics as an important step in the process of the beatification of
the late Maurice Cardinal Otunga, which has gained some momentum in the recent past, as it would
allow Pope Francis to get his own impressions even though the process itself is a lengthy one and
has to pass over many hurdles.
For now though it is fingers crossed that the upcoming travels to Africa by Pope Francis will
provide the travel and tourism benefits associated with such a visit.
Kenya says kills al Shabaab commander and possibly militant Briton
Jun 15, 2015/Reuters
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's army said it killed a regional commander from Somalia's al Shabaab
group, and possibly also a Briton who joined the militants, in fighting over the weekend.
Eleven Somali militants and two Kenyan soldiers were killed when al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab
fighters attacked a military base in Kenya's northern coastal region of Lamu County, officials said.
Al Shabaab confirmed the weekend attack, saying "many Kenyan soldiers were killed", without
giving precise figures. It gave no details about any al Shabaab members killed. The group often
cites a higher death toll than officials.
Among those killed was al Shabaab's Luqman Osman Issa, also known as Shirwa, blamed for
leading attacks on Kenya's Mpeketoni area a year ago in which 65 people were killed, Kenya
Defence Forces spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said on Monday.
"This is a big victory for us and also a major setback for al Shabaab because now there is no
mainstream commander in the Lamu area," he told Reuters, adding Shirwa's body was in a morgue
in Mpeketoni.
He also said the dead may have included Thomas Evans, also known as Abdul Hakim, a Briton in
his mid-20s who had converted to Islam aged 19 and later joined al Shabaab. Obonyo said data
about Evans and pictures publicly available "point at him".
"But we cannot be certain becomes sometimes looks can be deceiving. The necessary forensic
investigations are being done including a DNA test I understand," he said, adding police were
carrying out the tests.
Obonyo said another man of apparently of Caucasian or Arab origin was among the dead, while the
others killed appeared to be from the region.
Al Shabaab, which seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government and impose its strict
interpretation of Islamic law, has frequently targeted neighbouring Kenya in recent years, saying it
is retaliating for Kenya's participation in an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
In April, al Shabaab militants raided a university in the northern Kenyan city of Garissa, killing
nearly 150 students, and in September 2013 militants killed at least 67 people in an attack on
Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall.
China To Build 50MW Solar Power Plant In Kenya Amid Investment Boom
By Aditya Tejas @Artejas [email protected]/June 15 2015
China is set to construct a solar power plant in Kenya as part of an ongoing investment plan
between the two countries, media reports said Sunday. The 50-megawatt plant, which is planned to
be built in the city of Garissa, will be financed by the Export-Import Bank of China, reports said,
citing China’s ambassador to Kenya, Liu Xianfa.
The project is reportedly set to be one of Africa’s largest solar power installations, and is part of a
$5 billion investment project announced by China in Kenya. Liu had earlier said that the project
will not only provide energy to the region but also bring economic prosperity and help quell rising
radicalization in the area. Garissa was the site of a deadly attack on a university in April that
claimed the lives of 148 students.
“The Export-Import Bank will provide a concessional loan to Kenya in order to complete the
renewable energy project,” Liu said, according to local news site Daily Nation. “The project is still
under plan and I expect that there will be a launching ceremony on site very soon.”
The deal also calls for the construction of a rail line and a wildlife conservation project in addition
to the energy plan. Kenya is China’s second-largest trading partner, and is expected to become East
Africa’s first oil exporter by 2016, while China is the world’s largest oil importer.
Figures from the Chinese embassy in Kenya reportedly show that bilateral trade between the two
nations was worth over $5 billion in 2014, an increase of over 50 percent on the previous year. On
the other hand, several Chinese nationals in Kenya have been linked to trafficking and wildlife
poaching cases. Last January, a Kenyan court slapped a record fine of $233,000 against a Chinese
ivory smuggler.
Nairobi is also currently looking at a series of nine potential sites for solar power plants, to provide
over half the country's power.
“We hope that when the entire project is completed by 2016, more than 50 percent of Kenya's
energy production will consist of solar. Already we are witnessing solar investments in Kenya such
as a factory that was opened here in 2011 that manufactures solar energy panels," Cliff Owiti, a
senior administrator at the Kenya Renewable Energy Association, told the Guardian.
Kenya is also planning the construction of what is set to be sub-Saharan Africa’s largest wind farm
near Lake Turkana.
"These agreements deepen our practical co-operation. China supports Kenya's quest for
industrialization," Chinese President Xi Jinping had said, while announcing the deals in 2013.
Al-Shabab Garissa Raid: Militants Storm Kenya Border Village, Target Military Vehicle With IED
By Lora Moftah @LoraMoftah [email protected]/June 14 2015
Suspected al-Shabab militants stormed a village in Kenya’s Garissa County, the same county where
the al Qaeda-affiliated group killed nearly 150 people in April. The raid came just a few hours after
members of the group targeted a military vehicle with an improvised explosive device, Kenya’s
Standard Digital reported Sunday.
Officials confirmed 10 militants were involved in the Saturday night incident and revealed the
attackers were likely looking to target “nonlocal” masons currently doing construction work on a
mosque in the village of Bulla-Golol.
“Luckily, the masons fled from the site after the attackers started shooting indiscriminately from a
distance as they headed toward the construction site,” Amb Mohamud Swaleh, Kenya’s northeastern
regional commissioner, told Standard Digital. “The workers managed to escape and disappear in
nearby bushes unscathed.”
Swaleh said the same militants were also believed to be behind a road side bomb attack on a
Kenyan army vehicle that was heading to Garissa from a border base. “One of the vehicles hit the
explosive, but fortunately it was too weak to cause any impact to any of our officers or the vehicle,”
he said, adding security personnel were now deployed in the village tracing the footsteps of the
assailants who are now believed to be fleeing back across the border to Somalia.
The Somali group has recently scaled up its attacks along the border with Kenya, which it has
targeted frequently in the past years for its involvement in an African Union peacekeeping force in
Somalia. In April, the group raided Garissa University College where they killed 148 people in their
deadliest attack yet.
The Saturday attack in Garissa was one of two executed by the militant group this weekend against
Kenyan targets. Eleven al-Shabab militants and two Kenyan soldiers were killed after fighters from
the group attacked a military base in Kenya’s northern Lamu County on Sunday. Militants also
stormed a village in the area where they forced men out of their houses into a mosque for an hour of
prayers before disappearing, Reuters reported. Officials confirmed the military had seized weapons
from the militants, including 13 AK-47 rifles and several grenades.
President Uhuru Lands A New Continental Job
Monday, 15 June 2015/ghafla.co.ke
It could be his first term in office but President Uhuru Kenyatta’s prominence as the fourth
President of the Republic of Kenya seems to be going beyond our borders.
The President seems to be every African leader’s favourite and this has landed him yet another job
in the continent.
President Uhuru was elected the Chairman of the African Peer Review Forum (APRF) in elections
held at the African Union (AU) summit in South Africa over the weekend.
Uhuru takes over from Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
This is the Committee of the Heads of State and Government of the countries voluntarily
participating in the APRM.
APRM stands for African Peer Review Mechanism and it is a mutually agreed instrument
voluntarily acceded to by the member states of theAU as a self-monitoring mechanism.
It was founded in 2003.
The mandate of the APRM is to encourage conformity in regard to political, economic and
corporate governance values, codes and standards, among African countries and the objectives
insocio-economic developmentwithin the New Partnership For Africa’s Development.
APRF is the highest decision-making body and could be considered like theboard of directors which
has the final say over the whole process. They appoint the APR Panel, look after the funding,
discuss the country reports, apply the peer pressure and transmit the reports to the relevant AU
structures
ANGOLA :
AU/AFRICA :
SERAP Asks AU to Put Pressure on South Africa to Transfer al-Bashir to ICC
15 Jun 2015/thisdaylive.com
A civil society organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has
called on “the leadership of the African Union including Nigeria to put pressure on the South
African authorities to swiftly transfer President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to the International
Criminal Court (ICC) to face charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against
him during the Darfur conflict.”
This followed an interim order issued by a South African court stopping President al-Bashir from
leaving the country.
The Pretoria High Court said Mr. Bashir must stay until it rules on Monday on whether he should be
handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). President Bashir is in Johannesburg for an
African Union (AU) summit.
SERAP in a statement by its executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni said: “What we have in South
Africa is a Pinochet opportunity that African leaders must not miss to demonstrate the AU’s strong
commitment and support towards ending impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity, war
crimes, torture and other serious crimes under international law.
“Bashir is a fugitive from international justice who has regrettably been allowed to participate and
enjoy significant political support during recent AU summits.
He has also been able to conduct official visits to a number of states without being arrested. Now is
the time for African leaders to show that the continent will no longer be safe havens to persons
accused of crimes under international law,” the organisation also said.
The organisation called on “the AU leaders including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari to
strongly oppose any initiative that seeks to undermine international justice, and to publicly back the
calls for President al-Bashir to be transferred to the ICC.”
“There is absolutely no legal basis for the AU leaders to refuse to comply with their obligations
under the Rome Statute of the ICC as heads of state or other state officials cannot claim immunity
for crimes under international law before international criminal courts. This legal position has been
well established by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court,” the organisation argued.
According to the organisation, “The AU leaders should also be mindful of their obligation to
cooperate fully in arresting President al-Bashir, in particular under the Rome Statute and the United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005). Allowing President al-Bashir to travel back to
Sudan would be a fundamental breach of this obligation, and send damaging signals to the victims
of international crimes in Darfur and elsewhere, and seriously undermine the AU’s credibility on
issues of human rights and justice.”
African leaders meet for AU summit, Chinese president extends congratulations
Editor: zhangrui 丨 Xinhua/06-15-2015
BEIJING/JOHANNESBURG, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday sent a
congratulatory message to the current summit of the African Union (AU) underway in
Johannesburg, as African leaders are meeting to discuss the continent's development plan in face of
mounting challenges.
In his message to the 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government
of the AU, Xi spoke highly of the important role the AU has played in Africa's development and
integration as well as in international and regional affairs.
Applauding Africa's Agenda 2063, which sets a series of concerted development goals for the
continent in the next 50 years, Xi said he sincerely hopes that African countries and people will
make more achievements in peaceful development and national revitalization.
China-Africa cooperation has not only benefited their own development, but has also promoted
solidarity and cooperation among developing countries, said the Chinese president.
So far, China and Africa has ushered in a historic opportunity and enjoyed broad prospects for win-
win cooperation and common development, Xi noted, saying that a meeting of the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation will be held in South Africa in the second half of this year.
China will continue to carry forward the concept of "sincerity, practicality, affinity and good faith"
in its cooperation with Africa, put forward more mutually-beneficial measures to meet both sides'
demand for development, and lift the new type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership onto a higher
level, so as to better benefit the two peoples, Xi said.
The AU summit was kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, amid high expectations for solutions
to resolve a series of challenges.
Heads of state and government from 54 AU members have their hands full of problems to address -ranging from peace and security to economic development and regional integration.
Speaking in his opening address, South African President Jacob Zuma said Africa has taken its
destiny particularly in social development and economic growth.
Africa has embarked on a new path of growth and development, Zuma said.
However, he said, expectations from the African people "are high and we can not fail" in efforts to
achieve the AU Agenda 2063.
Zuma urged African countries to continue to address conflicts on the continent and take decisive
actions to tackle new challenges such as terrorism.
High on the agenda at the summit will be the AU Commission's Agenda 2063, the political crisis in
Burundi, proposals for the continent's free trade area, and mechanisms to find new sources of
funding for the AU operations.
The summit is taking place under the theme of the "Year of Women Empowerment and
Development towards Africa's Agenda 2063."
In pursuit of the continent's development framework adopted in 2013, African leaders will consider
the first 10-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063, noting that two years of the first 10-year
phase have since lapsed.
The AU adopted the long-term development plan to help accelerate development and ensure that the
continent will fully exploit its resources for the benefit of its 1 billion people.
This was in realization of the fact that African countries continue to be among the poorest globally
despite possessing abundant natural resources.
Nhamo Mhiripiri, a lecturer at the Midlands State University of Zimbabwe, said as Africa
implements its Agenda 2063, the continent can score development milestones if it deepens regional
and economic integration through a continental free trade zone.
"The development plan needs a lot of vision, focus and investment from within and outside Africa,"
he said.
Vince Musewe, an economist, urged the continent to focus more on infrastructure development and
technology transfer to fast-track the process of industrialization.
"Africa is falling behind because of under developed infrastructure," he said.
"We have failed to industrialize and depend too much on imports as a continent. We are also not
investing enough in our human capital potential as China has shown us that you invest in your
people first then you create economic opportunity for them by developing industry," Musewe
added.
Africa: At AU Summit - Buhari Lists Terrorism, Poverty As Africa's Major Problems
By George Agba/Leadership (Abuja)/15 June 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari in South Africa listed terrorism, insecurity, poverty, unemployment
and underdevelopment as the greatest challenges facing Africa as a continent.
Speaking at the opening session of the 25th assembly of the heads of states and governments of the
African Union (AU) holding in that country, Buhari urged African leaders to redouble their effort in
sustaining economic development of their countries by empowering the youths.
He said that Nigeria, on its part, will continue to play its part in supporting the African Union
Commission and other continental and regional institutions in their efforts to prioritize African
development in all sectors of human endeavour.
"It is however clear that some of the greater challenges to our peoples within this Union still lie in
the political, economic, as well as peace and security spheres. Our continent is currently bedevilled
by the twin evils of terrorism and insecurity, poverty, youth unemployment and underdevelopment,"
he said.
"The destructive effects of the inhuman and criminal campaigns of the Boko Haram insurgency in
Nigeria and neighbouring countries, the Al-Shabab attacks in East Africa, and the activities of the
Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) all bear testimony to a continent under siege.
According to him, the stories of African youths getting drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in their
desperation to seek better life in Europe "is not only an embarrassment to Africa's leaders, but
dehumanises them. Indeed, they combine to paint a very unfavourable picture of our peoples and
countries."
Buhari told the continent's leaders present at the summit that they owed it as a duty to reverse the
ugly trend and put an end to the push factors that compel young men and women "to throw caution
to the winds and risk life, limbs and all on this dangerous adventure."
"We must redouble our efforts to sustain the economic development of our countries, ensure
empowerment of our youths, create more jobs, improve and upgrade our infrastructure, and, above
all, continue the enthronement of a regime of democracy, good governance and respect for human
rights and rule of law. These and other measures that engender peace and stability must be pursued
relentlessly."
He assured them of Nigeria's unflinching commitment to the ideals and aspirations of the African
Union as explained in the Agenda 2063, which, according to him, "is geared towards ensuring a
peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa in the next 50 years.
"It is for this reason that Nigeria is fully and irrevocably committed to the ECOWAS vision. We do
so because we believe that African integration is best attained through the instrumentality of our
Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as the building blocks of viable continental institutions.
"The journey might look arduous, but certainly not impossible. There are opportunities in every
challenge. If and when we adopt this call for a change of attitude, approach, and disposition towards
agreed protocols and commitments, we shall be bequeathing a politically stable, economically
developed, and socially harmonious Africa, thereby justifying the confidence reposed in us by our
electorate."
He urged them to always demonstrate their qualities as statesmen and true daughters and sons of
Africa.
Being his first address at the AU summit, Buhari, said he was elated to address the gathering barely
two weeks after his inauguration as the president of Nigeria.
He stated that Nigeria's 2015 election, which was adjudged the fairest and most credible in the
history of elections in Nigeria, was made possible by the dogged determination of the Nigerian
people to deepen their democracy.
He said, "Their quest was amply supported, and even encouraged by the goodwill of our friends and
partners in the international community. I therefore wish to seize this opportunity to convey my
very deep appreciation to all those who contributed to the success of that election.
"My election has been described as historic. I agree that it is indeed historic because, for the first
time in the practice of democracy in my country, an opposition party defeated the ruling party in a
keenly contested election.
"The election was also held against the backdrop of the fears and concerns expressed both in
Nigeria and among our international friends abroad and partners that the outcome of the election
could spell doom for Nigeria.
"I am glad that even though those fears and concerns were not without basis, the outcome was
totally different, to the relief of all of us," he said.
Buhari reiterated his commendation of the very positive role played by his predecessor, former
President Goodluck Jonathan, in averting the feared crisis and in facilitating the peaceful transition
of power.
Buhari orders release of $21m to multinational force
Monday, 15 June 2015 /dailytrust.com.ng
President Muhammadu Buhari said he had directed that $2m of the $100m Nigeria pledged to the
Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) be released within the week to defeat the Boko Haram
insurgency.
He disclosed this in Johannesburg, South Africa at the weekend while presiding over a meeting of
the African Union Peace Security Council at the ongoing 25th AU summit.
The president told the gathering that Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger were, under the auspicies
of the MJTF, already working to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.
“In this regard, the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin met recently
where far reaching decisions were taken to immediately put into operations, the Multinational Joint
Task Force. To this end, the summit approved the immediate provision of $30m for the
Multinational Joint Task Force.
“Consequently, out of the pledge of $100 million which Nigeria made to the Multinational Joint
Task Force, I have directed that $21 million be released within the next one week,” Buhari said.
He noted that the continent was faced with conflicts of diverse forms as manifested in the crises in
Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan and more recently, in Burundi.
Buhari reminded the leaders of the commitment they had made during the African Union 50th
anniversary in 2013 to the objective of “silencing the local guns” in Africa by 2020.
He, however, stated that with just five years remaining, the prospect of realizing that objective
appeared doubtful “with pockets, individuals country and the continent as a whole.”
He said: “We’re witnesses to the rampant destruction of homes, roads, communications lines, vital
infrastructures and displacement of persons, not to mention terrible loss of lives. This is true, I must
add, of the north-east of Nigeria where we’re dealing with the scourge of Boko Haram.”
The president also stressed the need to immediately change the face of Africa and give hope to the
hopeless.
Buhari suggested that since the meeting was aimed at discussing the situations in South Sudan and
Burundi, the leaders should put those situations in a proper context.
According to him, “The people of these countries are suffering, while their political leaders are
bickering among themselves.
“This is my first time of attending this meeting, AU Peace Security Council. I have the
responsibility of preceeding over this meeting by the virtue of the fact that Nigeria is the chairman
for the month of June 2015. I am also pleased that you have responded positively to my invitation.”
UN/AFRICA :
US/AFRICA :
US Joins Calls for South Africa to Arrest Sudan's Bashir
VOA News/June 14, 2015
The United States joined calls Sunday for South Africa to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
on longstanding charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity as he visited for an African
Union summit.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said that while the U.S. is not a part of the International
Criminal Court, it strongly supports efforts to hold accountable the perpetrators of genocide and war
crimes.
"In light of the atrocities in Darfur, we call on the government of South Africa to support the
international community's efforts to provide justice for the victims of these heinous crimes," Kirby
said in a statement.
Court rules Bashir must stay
The ICC has charged Bashir with 10 counts including genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity for sending the army and backing Arab militias to put down an armed uprising in the
Darfur conflict in 2003.
Earlier Sunday, a South African judge ordered authorities to prevent Bashir from leaving the
country.
"President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is prohibited from leaving the Republic of South Africa until
the final order is made in this application," Judge Hans Fabricius said in his ruling.
Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Ismail said Bashir would return home after the
main session of the summit.
Despite calls for his arrest, Bashir took part in a group photo with other African leaders at the
summit in Johannesburg on Sunday.
In a message posted to Twitter, South Africa's ruling African National Congress party said it was
calling upon the government to challenge the order against Bashir. It says immunity was granted to
all participants of the summit as part of the international norms for countries hosting such
gatherings.
The United Nations says fighting in the impoverished Darfur region has killed 300,000 people and
created more than 2 million refugees. Most of the victims were civilians.
ICC President Sidiki Kaba said South Africa, which "has always contributed to the strengthening of
the Court," should "spare no effort in ensuring the execution of the arrest warrants."
Activists react
Elise Keppler, the associate director of Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program said
Sunday South Africa "should not flout its international obligations and stain [its] credibility on
justice" by failing to arrest President Bashir.
"How many thousands of Africans can you kill before you're not welcome at [the] African Union
summit?" Andrew Stroehlein, the European media director of Human Rights Watch said on Twitter
Sunday.
Bashir was sworn in earlier this month for another five-year presidential term.
He promised to fight corruption, improve the economy and bring relations with the West back to
what he calls their "natural state."
He also vowed to bring peace to three separate regions where armed groups are fighting to topple
his government -- Blue Nile, Darfur and Kordofan. The president repeated his offer of total
amnesty to any armed rebel who joins peace talks.
Bashir has ruled Sudan for 25 years. The country has not only been battered by armed rebellion,
but by international sanctions and the loss of oil revenue when South Sudan gained independence.
U.S. airstrike targeted terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar inside Libya, officials say
By Barbara Starr and Jomana Karadsheh, CNN/ June 15, 2015
(CNN)A U.S. plane carried out a strike inside Libya on Sunday, reportedly killing a key terror
figure in North Africa, U.S. and Libyan officials said.
The target was Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran Islamist fighter affiliated with al Qaeda in North
Africa, a U.S. official told CNN.
The Libyan government said Belmokhtar was killed in the strike, something that U.S. officials have
not confirmed.
Federal prosecutors in New York had charged the one-eyed Belmokhtar in 2013 with crimes related
to a brazen attack on a gas facility in Algeria were 37 hostages died. Three Americans were among
the dead.
"It was a single strike conducted by a manned aircraft," a Pentagon official with direct knowledge
of the operation told CNN. There were no U.S. personnel on the ground, the official said.
U.S. aerial intelligence assets were tracking Belmokhtar's movements at the time of the raid, the
U.S. official said, but the outcome of the operation was still being assessed.
The Libyan government went further in a statement Sunday, saying that the U.S. airstrike "led to the
killing of Moktar Belmokhtar and a group of Libyans who are members of a terrorist organization
in Eastern Libya."
The strike happened at 2 a.m. Sunday (8 p.m. ET Saturday).
In New York, Belmokhtar was charged on various conspiracy counts including hostage-taking,
kidnapping, providing material support to al Qaeda and conspiring to use a weapon of mass
destruction.
The Signed-in-Blood Battalion
Belmokhtar is the founder of the Signed-in-Blood Battalion, also known as the al-Mulathamun
Battalion. The group claimed responsibility for the January 2013 attack in Algeria.
In the Algerian siege, heavily armed militants in pickups struck a sprawling state-owned natural gas
complex near In Amenas, gathered the Westerners who worked there into a group and tied them up.
Belmokhtar had said the attack was in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to
battle Islamist militants in Mali.
The Algerian military tried to negotiate with the militants during the standoff, but their demands to
release militants held prisoner in Algeria were deemed unreasonable, leading to intervention by
special forces troops.
The gas facility operated in cooperation with foreign energy firms such as Norway's Statoil and
Britain's BP -- and as such, employed workers from several Western countries.
CANADA/AFRICA :
AP Interview: Canadian Talks About Her Somali Kidnapper
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/JUNE 14, 2015
TORONTO — A Canadian freelance journalist who was held by kidnappers for 15 months in
Somalia seven years ago said Sunday that the Somali man arrested by Canadian police last week
terrorized her mother by barraging her with threatening telephone calls with ransom demands.
Canadian Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were kidnapped by
gunmen on Aug. 23, 2008. They were released in November 2009 after a $600,000 ransom was
paid.
Police said Ali Omar Ader, who was arrested on Thursday in Ottawa, was one of the main
negotiators within the group that carried out the kidnapping. Lindhout called her kidnappers
criminals seeking to collect a ransom payment.
Police suggested that Ader was lured to Canada before being arrested but declined to reveal how he
arrived in Canada.
Lindhout released a statement on Sunday in which she said Ader "terrorized my mother, phoning
her multiple times a day and at all hours."
She later elaborated on her statement in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. She said
she crumpled to the floor, crying, as police investigators broke the news to her about the arrest of
her alleged Somali kidnapper.
Lindhout said she and her family feel a tremendous sense of relief.
Ader "was a deranged man in many ways," Lindhout told the AP from Canmore, Alberta.
"There were two sides to him. He would call her and sometimes very sweetly refer to her as
mommy and speak about and how he ... dreamed about coming to Canada and maybe he would see
her here. And then he would switch and he would threaten my life. I was threatened in captivity by
him and by all the leaders that if the money wasn't paid we would be beheaded."
The two journalists were kept apart from each other, beaten and tortured during their ordeal.
Lindhout also reported being raped but not by Ader, whom she knew as Adam while in captivity.
She called him erratic and bullying and fully complicit in her suffering.
"He never touched me or abused me but one day he did come into the room that I was being held in
and he sat with me and he told me he had decided that he was going to make me his wife," Lindhout
said.
"He proceeded to tell me what my life would look like as his wife, what it would be like to be a
good Muslim woman and to raise his children. This was really terrifying to me. He spoke in great
detail about this. He left that day and then he called my mother and told her. This was also terrifying
for my mother."
She also said Ader expressed a desire to marry her mother. "He was really sick," she said.
She added it's been a tough weekend for her mother who has now seen pictures of him for the first
time. "She was the one who was on the phone with him all the time so she found seeing his face
very difficult. Seeing his face on TV made him very real to her," she said.
Lindhout said she is very grateful to Canadian police and looks forward to testifying against Ader,
who made a brief appearance in an Ottawa court last Thursday and is due back in court next Friday.
Lindhout is no longer a journalist but has co-authored a book about her experience called "A House
in the Sky" and has founded a nonprofit organization that supports development, aid and education
in Somalia and Kenya.
"It was absolutely a terrible experience, about as awful as a person can imagine or endure but I
survived and I'm here," she said.
"I feel great. Something like this is upsetting because it brings back a lot of memories of the
difficult things that happened to me, but it also feels really good because there is a real sense of
justice."
AUSTRALIA/AFRICA :
EU/AFRICA :
CHINA/AFRICA :
African leaders meet for AU summit, Chinese president extends congratulations
2015/6/15/Xinhua
BEIJING/JOHANNESBURG, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday sent a
congratulatory message to the current summit of the African Union (AU) underway in
Johannesburg, as African leaders are meeting to discuss the continent's development plan in face of
mounting challenges.
In his message to the 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government
of the AU, Xi spoke highly of the important role the AU has played in Africa's development and
integration as well as in international and regional affairs.
Applauding Africa's Agenda 2063, which sets a series of concerted development goals for the
continent in the next 50 years, Xi said he sincerely hopes that African countries and people will
make more achievements in peaceful development and national revitalization.
China-Africa cooperation has not only benefited their own development, but has also promoted
solidarity and cooperation among developing countries, said the Chinese president.
So far, China and Africa has ushered in a historic opportunity and enjoyed broad prospects for winwin cooperation and common development, Xi noted, saying that a meeting of the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation will be held in South Africa in the second half of this year.
China will continue to carry forward the concept of "sincerity, practicality, affinity and good faith"
in its cooperation with Africa, put forward more mutually-beneficial measures to meet both sides'
demand for development, and lift the new type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership onto a higher
level, so as to better benefit the two peoples, Xi said.
The AU summit was kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, amid high expectations for solutions
to resolve a series of challenges.
Heads of state and government from 54 AU members have their hands full of problems to address -ranging from peace and security to economic development and regional integration.
Speaking in his opening address, South African President Jacob Zuma said Africa has taken its
destiny particularly in social development and economic growth.
Africa has embarked on a new path of growth and development, Zuma said.
However, he said, expectations from the African people "are high and we can not fail" in efforts to
achieve the AU Agenda 2063.
Zuma urged African countries to continue to address conflicts on the continent and take decisive
actions to tackle new challenges such as terrorism.
High on the agenda at the summit will be the AU Commission's Agenda 2063, the political crisis in
Burundi, proposals for the continent's free trade area, and mechanisms to find new sources of
funding for the AU operations.
The summit is taking place under the theme of the "Year of Women Empowerment and
Development towards Africa's Agenda 2063."
In pursuit of the continent's development framework adopted in 2013, African leaders will consider
the first 10-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063, noting that two years of the first 10-year
phase have since lapsed.
The AU adopted the long-term development plan to help accelerate development and ensure that the
continent will fully exploit its resources for the benefit of its 1 billion people.
This was in realization of the fact that African countries continue to be among the poorest globally
despite possessing abundant natural resources.
Nhamo Mhiripiri, a lecturer at the Midlands State University of Zimbabwe, said as Africa
implements its Agenda 2063, the continent can score development milestones if it deepens regional
and economic integration through a continental free trade zone.
"The development plan needs a lot of vision, focus and investment from within and outside Africa,"
he said.
Vince Musewe, an economist, urged the continent to focus more on infrastructure development and
technology transfer to fast-track the process of industrialization.
"Africa is falling behind because of under developed infrastructure," he said.
"We have failed to industrialize and depend too much on imports as a continent. We are also not
investing enough in our human capital potential as China has shown us that you invest in your
people first then you create economic opportunity for them by developing industry," Musewe
added.
UN to partner China to advance women's welfare in Africa
2015-06-15/Xinhua/ Editor: Gu Liping
The chief of the United Nations women's agency on Sunday said the agency is partnering China to
raise the gender-sensitiveness of infrastructure investors in regions where women's welfare lack
sufficient protection.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and the Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka made the remarks at the ongoing 25th African Union Summit with a theme on
women empowerment.
Africa, as a less developed region, faces tremendous challenges in terms of protecting women's
rights. Child marriage, violence against women, and high maternal mortality rates are among a
number of urgent issues Africa faces.
Ngcuka said that China and UN Women will co-host a global women summit in September as this
year marks the 20th anniversary of the birth of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action, the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women's rights.
"We are asking countries to commit to what they can do in their own country. But if they are also
countries that invest in other countries or provide overseas development and funding, they must also
commit to use their investment as well as their overseas development assistance to address the
issues in those that were found to be challenging," said the executive director.
"We are also hoping that china would seize this as an opportunity, in its investment in Africa in
particular, to invest in Africa in a manner that is gender-sensitive," she said.
China is among a handful of countries that invest heavily in Africa, particularly in infrastructure, to
spur the continent's economic development.
Ngcuka gave an example explaining gender-sensitive investment, saying that building sanitation
facilities in schools is a critical intervention in sustaining the presence of girls in schools as girls
need their privacy.
"If china is investing in infrastructure in Africa, it must also look at infrastructures that benefit
women. It must see women as entrepreneurs who can participate in the projects," she added.
The September summit, which is to take place in New York, is aimed to enhance the
implementation of and Platform for Action, promote new political commitments in achieving post2015 agenda in women development and find new financial support.
INDIA/AFRICA :
BRAZIL/AFRICA :
EN BREF, CE 15 Juin 2015… AGNEWS/DAM, NY, 15/06/2015